Chef Andy to be on Dr. Oz show (again), to discuss White House trip

Published 4:00 am, Saturday, November 12, 2011

Midlander Andy Bacigalupo is back on the Dr. Oz Show. The special 400th episode features past guests with the biggest makeovers and will air on NBC later this month.

Bacigalupo is a chef instructor at the Bay-Arenac ISD Career Center. He was on the Dr. Oz Show last November when he lost 40 pounds after taking Oz’s 28-Day Detox Salt Challenge. In the upcoming episode Bacigalupo discusses his trip to the White House and Team Nutrition, a group he formed at the center for Michelle Obama’s Chefs Move to Schools program to fight childhood obesity. Dr. Oz also checks in with Bacigalupo to see how he’s faired staying on a low-salt diet.

Bacigalupo also demonstrates a couple of low-salt recipes.

Asked to make a salt-free meal to lower blood pressure, Bacigalupo says the key is to change the way you season your food. Bacigalupo made a Cajun mix he calls his “mardi gras Cajun rub” that uses paprika, cayenne pepper, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, basil, oregano, dried lemon peel and gumbo file. The salt-free mix seasons meat.

Bacigalupo also recommends changing the way meals are prepared - and he has a new way to marinate. Bacigalupo demonstrates his “sweet and sassy marinade” with no salt. The recipe calls for marinating the salmon filet in a zip lock bag for about one hour, baking for about 7-8 minutes, basting with the unused marinade and serving on a bed of steamed spinach with lemon juice.

Other guests on the show include Rocco the meat-eating cowboy who took the 28-Day Vegan Challenge and people who have lost over 100 pounds.

Bacigalupo says he had a great time at the taping. What was it like returning to the Dr. Oz Show?

“What an honor,” said Bacigalupo, “he’s truly in it to create a healthier America, and helping one person at a time.” Bacigalupo says, in turn, those people are motivating other people to make positive changes.